Organizing the Teaching

What do we need to teach?

Before the teaching begins, whether using SOCCSS, social stories, or direct instruction, some observations need to take place within the environment to even know what to teach. Some questions to ask include:

• How predictable are the expectations within each environment (classroom, playground, music room, etc)?
• What exactly are the expectations, and what is the purpose behind them?
• Who are the other players and what are their roles?
• What circumstances are likely to come up in the environment to alter those factors (i.e., a substitute teacher would likely have a different set of expectations/rules)?
• How can we choose which method would best teach the specific expectation/motivation (i.e., which situation do we teach with SOCCSS, which with social stories, etc.)?

Answers to the questions can be used to make decisions about what skills need to be addressed.

Who will teach the hidden curriculum?

Within the school building, hidden curriculum items are taught by someone involved with the student’s individualized education plan (IEP). Preferably, the hidden curriculum is taught using direct-teaching methods by one central staff member – the special education teacher, a speech language pathologist, psychologist, social worker, etc. This individual should be in contact with the student in different areas of the building throughout the day and be knowledgeable about the student’s needs, strengths, and the concept of the hidden curriculum. This is not to say that only one person can teach the hidden curriculum, but a central trusted figure who can outline the various curriculum hidden items offers consistency. Outside of the school building, the hidden curriculum also exists as part of the student’s (or adult’s) day. These curriculum items need to be directly taught by someone in contact with the individual across many settings, most likely the parent. Other staff members, caregivers, family members, soccer coaches, and the like, can be made aware of the child’s need to understand social expectations while in their care, and would serve to support the student.

What information does the individual need to learn about specific environments?

What a child needs to learn changes from setting to setting and varies across ages, gender, cultures, etc. As a result, it is a practically impossible to generate a comprehensive list of hidden curriculum items. Neurotypical students are often good sources for identifying hidden curriculum items. A sample list of items is included below.

• How to tell when the teacher "means business"
• How to tell when the teacher is happy with the student's performance
• What the teacher does to communicate that he is angry
• Which teachers they can joke with and under what circumstances
• What tasks are most important to the teacher (such as tests vs. assignments)
• What upsets the teacher and/or what the teacher's "pet peaves" are
• What the rules are for talking in class
• How to ask questions during a lecture or lesson
• Who to see if they have a problem
• How to request help in each class
• When an how to turn in homework and class assignments
• How flexible the teacher is regarding late assignments
• Does the teacher allow students to negotiate due dates, how assignment is to be completed, where assignment can be completed, etc.
• Where to sit in class so there is easy access to the teacher
• What to do in individual classes if they do not have the right supplies or left their homework in the locker
• What to be doing in each class when the bell rings
• What the penalty is for turning in assignments late, being tardy, or missing supplies

(Myles & Adreon, 2001, p.97-98)

How do we present it?

The very concept of a hidden curriculum is quite complex. Knowing that individuals with ASD learn complex information best when it is broken down into smaller pieces, the expectations in an environment can be broken down as a first step. Further, visual supports are important tools in developing an understanding of any material; including the hidden curriculum. Children and youth with ASD can usually memorize visual information quite well, so this strength can be used by providing lists of rules and expectations in classrooms, social stories, SOCCSS, comic strip conversations and cartooning.

Individuals with an ASD are often embarrassed about receiving extra help or having anyone in the class take notice of their differences. Therefore, it is recommended that a plan be made ahead of time, preferably at the beginning of the school year, for a private place where the child and teacher can go to work on techniques such as cartooning, social autopsies, or SOCCSS.

All the techniques mentioned here hinge on the fact that the child is relaxed and in a state of mind where learning can take place, and that may be very difficult within the classroom setting. Equally important is allowing the child to practice what she has learned in natural settings. Therefore, if situations do not regularly arise that allow the student to practice skills, events may need to be contrived or set up to determine if the student can spontaneously use the skills he has been taught.

Example:

Justin doesn’t like to use the phone and therefore avoids calling anyone for any reason. He needs to improve his phone skills, since these are important in fostering independence.

His social worker, Ms. Reitchel, who works with him in a weekly group, has developed a plan to teach him phone skills (along with the rest of the group, who could all use some brushing up!). In their sessions, they role-play some basic phone conversations, such as dialing 911, calling for a doctor’s appointment, ordering a pizza, etc. They will also cover how to answer the phone appropriately and take a message.

Additionally, Ms. Reitchele arranges for a project that the kids will work on in pairs. She only describes the project to one child in each pair. She then makes it homework for the other half of the children to call their partner to get the assignment. A similar project will be assigned later, and the roles will be switched. She also randomly calls the students at home, and gives them messages they have to deliver to her at school the next day. Once a month on Friday they order out from a variety of diners and small restaurants nearby, and students take turns choosing the provider, taking the orders from the class, and calling them in to the restaurant. This gives them practical experience in a number of skills they are working on in addition to phone skills (organizing, taking notes, making choices, perspective into others’ likes/dislikes, etc.).

Justin and his classmates improve their phone skills not only from the role-play sessions, but also because they are required to use those skills to benefit themselves and the rest of the class. They develop some confidence as the year progresses, and Ms. Reitchel asks the other teachers to encourage students to get phone numbers from classmates and call them when they need to get assignments after an illness, for example. She helps the group members choose an appropriate classmate and gets their number, and they role-play how to ask someone for their phone number. She then monitors the students to see how often they use this skill during the year, and how successful they are.

Can these techniques be used with the neurotypical kids?

SOCCSS is a good tool for use in a social skills class to teach class members about consequences, making choices, and the feelings and perspectives of others. In fact, most typical kids could not benefit from work on choice-making and perspective-taking. When all classmates are learning the same material, the individual with an ASD may find it more comfortable since she is not being singled out. Under these circumstances the situations to be discussed would to be of a more general nature (such as, what do we do if a peer offers us drugs?), not specific to an individual child or experience.

It might help young typical children in a classroom to better understand the child with an ASD if they were clued in to the existence of hidden curriculum items, and the child’s difficulty in interpreting them. Because typical children move through the hidden curriculum with such ease, they may be unaware of its very existence, or that it is considered to be a very complex skill. Carol Gray’s The Sixth Sense is helpful in this regard because it instructs kids on the concept of a "social sense," corresponding with the five senses, and points out that some children have difficulty using that sense, just as some students have difficulty seeing or hearing well. Students can learn to be supportive of the student with ASD by helping them identify potentially difficult situations, providing tips on how to handle different teachers, and intervening when they see the child struggling amid misinterpretations.

Designing and assessing the strategies

Meeting regularly as a multidisciplinary team is important for identifying successful interventions for students with ASD. Such meetings should include discussions regarding the team members’ roles in teaching the hidden curriculum. For instance, the special education case manager, may be given sole responsibility for using the techniques in a one-to-one situation, or a few qualified people may be assigned to provide this support. Classroom teachers should be asked to provide lists of their expectations and post rules clearly on the wall of their room. Exceptions to any existing rules must be discussed, and a plan developed (i.e., if no food is allowed out of the cafeteria, how will the student with ASD get his lunch to the lunchtime social group?). These things cannot be left to chance because they can change the existing hidden curriculum. It is important to remember, however, they no one can be expected to anticipate all the variations that can happen.

Social curricula in general, and hidden curriculum items specifically, are not easy to assess for mastery. For obvious reasons, we are not able to assess them the same way we assess academic curricula. There are no tests or quizzes that are specific to the skills each individual child has to learn, so decisions about the child’s level of ability are largely left to observation. Unfortunately, since the "hidden curriculum" is truly "hidden," it is difficult to observe results without some careful planning.

Is it working?

Periodically, someone needs to decide how well the chosen techniques are working for the student and under what circumstances so adjustments can be made. The following questions may help in making those decisions.

• What mistakes was the student making in relation to the expectations within the environment?
• What kinds of mistakes is she still making?
• What mistakes was he making about the motives of the hidden curriculum architects (the reasons behind the expectations)?
• How does he understand the motives now?
• How well was she able to cope with his level of understanding?
• How successful is she now and where is she more, or less, successful?
• What were his methods of coping? How high was his stress level?
• Are his coping mechanisms working more appropriately now? Is the stress level lower?
• Have we seen him use the skills in other settings for generalization? How often?
  

Data can be collected on skills that have been practiced and have been observed in the natural setting. Other skills are more difficult to assess in this way because they do not happen with regularity or while an adult is around to observe.

The hidden curriculum is an important part of social development, even though most of us are unaware of learning it. Individuals with ASD need assistance in understanding the impact of the social world on their lives as children, and later as adults. There will continue to be hidden curricula in the workplace, looking for an apartment, or accessing transportation. Individuals with ASD will continue to need support in this area as they mature. There is no "final exam" for the hidden curriculum, and even typically developing individuals never really master it in all settings.

Next steps

Before beginning training in the hidden curriculum, it is important that teachers and parents be familiar with the related techniques as identified here (i.e., social stories, social autopsies, SOCCSS) and described in more detail in other ICAN lessons.

Following mastery of these techniques, it is time to plan the teaching process. If the child is not making progress as expected, it is time for the team to reassess the plan. No matter what the reason, if progress is not occurring, adjustments to the program should be implemented without undue delay. These techniques should be fun and rewarding for both student and teacher (if not, change is needed), so enjoy learning together!